Violent Crime in the United States
2GreenEnergy supporter Gary Tulie writes from his home in Buckinghamshire, England (near London): Hi Craig,
I don’t know if people in the US realise how much higher murder rates are in parts of the US than they are in the UK.
I just read a story about 2 women murdered in Birmingham Alabama, and it said that 91 people have been murdered in Birmingham Alabama this year. With nearly 4 months remaining in 2023, if murders continue at the current rate, that looks set to reach around 130 by year end.
Birmingham Alabama apparently has a population of around 193,000 putting the murder rate at around 67 per 100,000 per annum!
In the last full year London population 8.8 million had 112 murders. That’s a murder rate of 1.27 per 100,000 or close to 53 times less than Birmingham Alabama.
Believe it or not, London has a higher murder rate than most parts of England and Wales.
England and Wales had 602 murders in the last full year for which statistics are available with a population of around 59.6 million giving a murder rate of 1.01 per 100,000 for England and Wales.
Is the difference all to do with guns? Probably not – the city does have higher levels of poverty than most, but surely the wide availability of guns cannot be helping!
When is the US going to treat this situation as the emergency it is and put together the recourses needed to tackle not just the crime, but the drivers of crime? No European country with the possible exception of Russia would put up with such levels of violence, so why is the US with so many more resources than most countries, and a long history of democracy (albeit flawed) allowing this to go on happening?
Thanks for this, Gary.
Especially compared to the UK, we’re a barbaric society. And, as you know, the South is worse than the rest of the country.
To your larger point, most Americans are reluctant to have their government make long-term investments in the things that will lower crime, e.g., better education, after-school programs, free college, etc.
In fact, we have an entire political party that stands on a platform of hate and stupidity: the rejection of science, xenophobia, misogyny, etc. Sadly, a general indifference to human suffering is very much a part of our culture.
The “attempt” to define “what the Unitied States’s problem is”; plus “Gary’s financial support for you” — is duly noted.
And both of you are “way off-base”.
You and Gary nonchalanctly have made statements here — that are simply not based on fact.
They are your personal perception(s) / proclivities as to “what you “think” — not what you can prove.
You both are entitled to present perceptions here in the US; as this is your forum.
But you are not entitled to present them as fact: unless you can prove your stated position.
And that only happens when you can prove your statement.
Furthermore:
1.) not every American is a barbaric, hate filled, politically driven idiot — only those that have shown themselves to be so fit that description.
2.) what is the matter with you?
To make the statment that there is “a general indifference to human suffering” in the US — is totally false and is very offensive to those that do care and work to help others.
Simply writing for “effect” (or for more “support”?) does not make it either true –or real.
There are those of us that know the difference — and act accordingly.
We also don’t appreciate being “lumped-in” with “your barbarians” — as our actions separate us.
So how about “more provable truth” — and “a lot less perception” when you, or Gary; attempt to define “what’s going on in the United States”, either as a country, or in a description of it’s “human condition”.
You, and Gary; can do much better than what’s presented here.
There is a reason I qualified the word “indifference” with the word “general,” and that is that it doesn’t apply to everyone.
That said, I do feel quite strongly that there is a trend away from doing the right thing by the citizens of the country, not to mention the rest of the world. 87% of us want common sense gun laws. A similar majority want investment in technologies that will mitigate environmental collapse, and in better public education. None of this is happening.
Btw, Gary does not support me financially; I meant “support” in a broader sense.